Stockholm

These are my latest non-toxic beauty buys:
The cleansing milk and the face oil are both from Swedish brand Estelle & Thild.
I normally go for a cleansing oil but this one is really creamy and thick and I can get the eye make up off as well.
The youth oil smells lovely and It’s not to thick or to light, just perfect!
I needed a new mascara, and after having gone through most non-toxic versions on the market, the Organic Glam mascara in black is my favourite for va-va-voom lashes.
To make my eyes pop a bit, I rely on a thin eyeliner line and this one by Lavera does the job!
I also got a natural nail polish remover from Benecos.
It works, but you have to use a bit more elbow-grease to get the nails clean and shiny, something I’m completely happy to do, to help us all 🙂

I managed to pack my own bag, the kids bags and made them dinner in only 20 minutes as we set off to Stockholm this summer.
This is a record for me!
Needless to say there were necessary items that did not come with us, like body wash and shampoo, hence a mad rush for new products as soon as we landed.

I bought Bjork and Berries gorgeously scented Never Spring body wash .
Bjork and Berries describe themselves as an eco luxury beauty brand derived by Swedish nature and traditions.
The body wash contains no sulphates but a “mild preservatives”. You can get this brand in the UK and online.

I also got Estelle and Thilde shampoo and conditioner, another Swedish brand.
I find this shampoo keeps my hair clean for one day longer than other shampoos, it doesn’t lather greatly but certainly cleans well.
The conditioner first feels heavy when you put it in your hand but when you apply it to the hair it sort of disappears and it’s not heavy at all.

I can’t live without lipstick.
If I could only chose one product to use for the rest of my life it would be a lipstick and I’m particularly impressed with Ilia’s lipstick In My Room.
This is a repeat buy for me, I pray it’s never discontinued!
It’s the perfect nude.

I’m all for extra sparkle to my skin when going out and Living Luminizer by RMS does the trick.
It’s really subtle and sheer and very easy to use.
I apply it to my cheeks, bridge of the nose and just above the eye brows.

Greetings from Stockholm!!
It’s all about water over here. We look for an amazingly clean natural spring water and admire the views as you can see in the video below.
It’s also crayfish party time right now, my favourite!
Friends and family gather over a ginormous bowl of crayfish accompanied by vodka, cheese and bread. Yum! Well not the vodka for me but I like the idea of it. It’s also very important to wear a silly hat!

I always bring a few bottles of Pine Tree Drink with me from Stockholm.
It’s the perfect detox-drink to start the day with and it remindes me of the dark mysterious woods in Sweden.
The taste?
Well, imagine you put a pine tree in the coffee grinder and then add some water 🙂

53% of Sweden is covered in dark dense woodland, needless to say the Swedish national soul is very connected to the forest.
When I I’m back in my home country I mostly hang out in the city.
Stockholm’s were my friends and family live but the pull of the magic woods is always present.
I found it very healing to take a hike in the rough and ready forest (it’s not as manicured and kept as the woods you find in the UK).
I also love the fact that you now can buy yourself a pice of wood-essence (in the form of bark bread) and eat it!
Forest on a plate.
The old way of using the inner bark of the pine tree as flour dates back to the vikings and nowadays this has become a bit of a delicacy. In the olden days there was a saying in Sweden “so poor they have to eat bark bread” now you need a bulging purse to buy the stuff, it’s incredibly expensive to produce.
The bark is harvested in early spring when it’s easy to remove and has a very high levels of nutrients like Vitamin C, potassium, zinc, magnesium, iron and flavonoids.
Bark bread is not super easy to get hold of, but I managed to bag a packet of hard bread which miraculously survived baggage handling at Heathrow.

I’m really excited to have found these swedish jams in my local health food shop.
I’m especially excited about the Cloudberry jam. Cloudberries are known as The Yellow Gold or Arctic Gold in Sweden with good reasons, they are incredibly rare and extremely hard to find. This rebellious berry won’t be controlled, it can’t really be cultivated, the soil and temperature has to be just right. I love the fact that they are tough as nails, they can withstand -40° but if something is a bit skewed in its environment it won’t play ball. If the conditions are right on the other hand this magical berry, ripened under the midnight sun, gives you an extraordinary health gift: Pure Sun Energy, Amazing Amounts of Vitamin C, Vitamin A and Ellagic Acid which might fight cancer and wrinkles. A yellow happiness berry that tastes like nothing else. ♥L

We stayed at Nobis Hotel in Stockholm this summer, a contemporary hotel slap bang right on Norrmalmstorg. You don’t get more central than that, walking distance to absolutely everywhere, so no need for practical shoes!
Also next door to Acne..

Rooms are small but practical. Staff are really friendly and VERY good at getting tables for 11 people at a “completely full” restaurant.

An iron and ironingboard was swiftly delivered to our room on request, and the dress I had altered and delivered was hanging in our wardrobe when we arrived, top marks!
And another 10 points for free WiFi! Hopefully more hotels will follow suit.
Another highlight was the cocktails in the early evening sunshine, especially the left one in the picture above. The “Victoria” (named after the crown princess) came full of crushed cloud berries so almost a health drink!
Stockholm has not been on the forefront of cocktail making, you would be hard-pressed to even get a rubbish Cosmo, but the mixologists at Nobis have upped the ante, big time!